


Midterms and Mayhem

by shadowsong26



Series: Heaven on Their Minds Sidestories [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, Involves an OC, Referenced violence, tall tales coda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-12
Updated: 2014-12-12
Packaged: 2018-03-01 03:36:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2758097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowsong26/pseuds/shadowsong26
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After ten years of dream-contact only, Gabriel comes to see Judas in person again--and while it seems like business as usual, there are hints of something yet to come lurking just below the surface...</p>
<p>A coda to <i>Tall Tales</i> in the <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/series/149772">Heaven on Their Minds</a> universe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Midterms and Mayhem

_Springfield, Ohio_

 

Judas was half-listening to generic pop radio and catching up on grading when the doorbell rang.

He blinked, then grabbed a post-it note so he would remember where he left off, turned the radio off, and went to answer it.

"...why am I not surprised," he said, wryly, when he found his father standing on his doorstep. Two suspicious deaths and a frat boy crying 'alien abduction' to anyone who would listen...plus, Abba had been unusually non-talkative in their last few dreamworld checkins. To be fair, he'd assumed that was because Abba knew he was busy, but he probably should have known better.

The Jack Russell terrier nipping at his heels, though, _was_  a surprise.

Abba just grinned at him. "Oh, you know you love me. I even brought you a present!"

"So I see." Judas stepped aside to let him in. "Does he have a name?"

"Guy I bought him from called him Jack."

Judas' eyebrows shot up. "You actually _bought_  me a dog?"

Abba looked mildly offended. "Well, if I'd just snapped him up, he'd vanish once I was out of range. And you need a friend. Or animal companion, or whatever. You can change the name, if you don't like it."

"No, of course. I'm sorry, he's wonderful." Judas bent down to scratch behind the dog's ears, and received a gratified wriggle in response. He smiled briefly. The dog _was_  adorable, and Abba had a point about his lonely lifestyle. He looked up again, and saw Abba was grinning again, clearly satisfied his gift had been well-received. "You just surprised me, that's all. I mean it's been all dream-contact, for...what, eleven years?"

"Ten years, eight months, three weeks, six days," Abba clarified promptly. Probably just because he could. "So I thought it was high time for a face-to-face."

"Of course," Judas said. "But..."

"But what?"

"Did you _really_  have to leave a trail of bodies to do it?"

Abba stuck his tongue out. "I was bored."

"Of course you were." He shook his head.

"Although," he continued, half under his breath and probably without meaning to, "I think things are about to get interesting again."

"What was that?" Judas asked, praying he hadn't heard right. If something bad was coming...

But, "Nothing," Abba said, a little too brightly to be believed.

Which meant it probably wasn't an _immediate_  threat. Surely, Abba would tell him if there was anything he needed to brace himself for.

"Anyway, I got here and you were having midterms or whatever," Abba was continuing. "Besides, they all deserved it."

"I know they did. Believe me, I know," Judas said, heading for the kitchen to get a bowl of water for the dog. Whatever may or may not have spooked the Archangel, his new pet had much more basic needs. Judas would have to worry about the rest later. "But I _work_  here, Abba. It's sort of hard for me to pretend I don't know anything when two coworkers' deaths are all anyone wants to talk about. And it wouldn't exactly go over well if I told people that my beloved father, moonlighting as a pagan god, got bored waiting for midterms to finish so he could visit me."

He grinned and held up his hands. "Fine, fine. You win. I won't drop bodies where you work ever again."

"That's all I ask."

"So...do you want the details, or what?" he asked, flopping onto the couch with blithe disregard for Judas' papers.

"Always. Do you want coffee or anything?"

Abba considered for a minute. "I want gummi bears."

"Well, if you'd called ahead like a normal person..."

"Well, what would be the fun in that?"

Judas just rolled his eyes. "For one thing, I'd have whatever candy was your favorite this week on hand. Last I heard, it was Jolly Ranchers."

"But you can bite the heads off gummi bears, Judas," Abba said, all seriousness. "So, _obviously_  they're better."

He shook his head, and smiled. "Well, either way, you'll have to make your own."

He stuck his tongue out again, but snapped his fingers and got his gummi bears.

An entire barrel of them.

"So, tell me," Abba said, selecting a green one and decapitating it. "What filtered to you through the grapevine?"

Bits and pieces, mostly, of varying levels of interest, but one thing had really stuck out. "An alligator in the sewer, Abba? Really?" Judas asked, stroking the dog--who had jumped into his lap like he owned it--absently. _I think I'll call him Fenrir. Abba will appreciate that._

"What?" he protested. "It's a classic!"

He rolled his eyes. "It's a cliche."

"You have no sense of humor."

"You're just noticing this?"

Abba threw a gummi bear at him. Fenrir yipped and sat up to catch it before Judas could stop him.

"Don't give my dog candy!"

"What? It's not chocolate. And if it makes him sick anyway, I'll fix it."

"That's not the _point,_  Abba," Judas said. "Why even give me Fenrir if you won't let me take care of him?"

"I gave him to you because I was hoping that maybe he could help you be a little less sad," Abba said, quietly. Then, deliberately shifting the subject the way he always did when things got too serious, he asked, "You're seriously going to call him Fenrir?"

"Well, he _is_  a canine gift from Loki, isn't he?"

"True."

Fenrir yipped and licked Judas' chin.

"And I guess he likes it," Abba said, which settled the matter. "But...seriously, the _alligator_  is what you jump to? Come on, kid, you can give me more than that."

Judas rolled his eyes and reached over to steal a gummi bear, settling in for a long night of catching up with his father.


End file.
